Tag Archives: poem

One Shall Be Taken

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Santi Tafarella

Two horses–look again– Winged, like cherubim– Watering at a marble trough, Ivy in riot about them. Reality? Silence, bones Saline, a coffin–not a trough– And a tale in the main that Had been uneven, rough, harsh. I’d have done it differently. This … Continue reading →

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A Poem on the Death of God

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Santi Tafarella

PROCESSIONAL (After Thomas Hardy’s “God’s Funeral”) I. At twilight, a people-train prepared to move. Dead God carried at the front; mourning contagious. I am my own sadness at the death of God. II. I saw Him. He first appeared a man. Then a … Continue reading →

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Hot Potato

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Santi Tafarella

The dookie left the doggie; the doggie left the dookie. For me.

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Guitarist in Blue

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Santi Tafarella

__________ Your country is vast, But no thing pure. Nothing is. I kiss You, playing both Parts. Off time, A little. Fingers underbug The strings attached. The hole is out front. Wood is at the back. I’m not here, here. … Continue reading →

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A Creation Story

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Santi Tafarella

__________ It seems to have started as an argument. Nothing became something, rapidly expanding to a whole laundry list of things. Separation and settlement followed. Over time things cooled. Mother got her planets, Father took to the stars. As in any divorce, vast … Continue reading →

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Poem for the New Year, 2013: Tennyson’s “Ring out, wild bells”

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Santi Tafarella

From In Memoriam (106), by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring … Continue reading →

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A Great Poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Santi Tafarella

It’s her first sonnet in Sonnets from the Portuguese : I thought once how Theocritus had sung Of the sweet years, the dear and wished-for years, Who each one in a gracious hand appears To bear a gift for mortals, … Continue reading →

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Sun Salutation

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Santi Tafarella

_____ True shield of Aten, color of Van Gogh’s Beard, in an eggy apron of aloes My skin I present to you. O mushroom Atomic; aureola at noon; yolk; bloom Atop Earth’s dome of blue: meet your black pupil (That … Continue reading →

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“A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Santi Tafarella
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An Emily Dickinson Poem

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Santi Tafarella

Emily Dickinson’s “Much Madness is divinest Sense —”: Much Madness is divinest Sense — To a discerning Eye — Much Sense — the starkest Madness — ’Tis the Majority In this, as All, prevail — Assent — and you are … Continue reading →

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Poem for Summer Vacations

Posted on June 27, 2009 by Santi Tafarella

Passage O soul to India! Passage, immediate passage! the blood burns in my veins! Away O soul! hoist instantly the anchor! Cut the hawsers—haul out—shake out every sail! Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough? … Continue reading →

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Edwin Arlington Robinson’s “Richard Cory” (1897): A Poem on the Turning Wheel of Fortune and Misleading Appearances

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Santi Tafarella

Who’s up, who’s down? It can change pretty quickly. And who knows what’s going on beneath appearances? Here’s a poem titled “Richard Cory” (by Edwin Arlington Robinson, written in 1897): Whenever Richard Cory went down town, We people on the pavement … Continue reading →

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“Whatever Is”: Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Atheist Poem?

Posted on April 21, 2009 by Santi Tafarella

Something that people might not know about Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the 19th century author of the frequently assigned feminist short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, is that she was also a poet. In her lifetime she published well over 500 poems. … Continue reading →

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“What if the mightiest word is love?”: See Here Elizabeth Alexander’s Poem (Read at Barack Obama’s Inauguration)

Posted on January 21, 2009 by Santi Tafarella

In contrast with Rick Warren’s depressingly prosaic, tone deaf, sectarian and artless invocation, I thought Elizabeth Alexander’s poem was a genuinely spiritual moment during the inauguration—a “prayer,” if you will—and a moving affirmation of human work, longing, and the supremacy of love—and “walking … Continue reading →

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Yin-Yang Fish (A Poem by Santi Tafarella)

Posted on December 2, 2008 by Santi Tafarella

  The highest cloud blocking the sun   moved   and the clouds below it, and the boat sails,   and the capping waves and gulls   broke   into brilliant white   even as you, barefoot   on the … Continue reading →

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“Nothing Staged Can Stay” (A Poem by Santi Tafarella)

Posted on November 28, 2008 by Santi Tafarella

  before the night’s glittering black curtain   the Father of dung   beatles moves the moon   ——————– What was I trying to do with this tiny poem? For one thing, I was trying to think about the things that … Continue reading →

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“Creation Story” (A Poem by Santi Tafarella)

Posted on November 21, 2008 by Santi Tafarella

    It seems to have started as an argument.    Nothing became something, rapidly expanding   to a whole laundry list of things.   Separation and settlement followed.   Over time things cooled. Mother got her planets; Father    … Continue reading →

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“Lot’s Wife” (A Poem by Santi Tafarella)

Posted on November 19, 2008 by Santi Tafarella

  I am the salty sea your once   amphibious daughters   called home,   and all my vital organs are here,   in Sodom.   Mother, memories, my heart.   They are packed in this place,   like loaves … Continue reading →

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“Many are Called but Few are Chosen”: A Poem by Santi Tafarella

Posted on September 7, 2008 by Santi Tafarella

              Petition: Scarcity, saith the preacher, all is scarcity, for the earth stays the same size, and the dark oils of its womb do not, like us, multiply. Reply: Verily, God says, verily offspring vary! Verily … Continue reading →

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“The World”: A Sonnet by Christina Rossetti

Posted on August 21, 2008 by Santi Tafarella

By day she woos me, soft, exceeding fair:      But all night as the moon so changeth she;      Loathsome and foul with hideous leprosy And subtle serpents gliding in her hair. By day she woos me to the outer … Continue reading →

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